Have you ever wanted accessible introductions to key figures and periods of Christian history? Augustine and His World Augustine is one of the giants of the Christian church. From his birth in North Africa and his days as a relatively permissive young man, through his midlife conversion to Christianity and career as bishop of Hippo, his story has intrigued and inspired every generation for over 1,600 years. As a thinker, teacher, writer and debater, Augustine's greatness lay in his ability to relate the philosophies of Ancient Greece and Rome to the precepts of the Christian faith. Augustine also saved the church itself from disintegrating into rival factions by forging sound doctrine in the fires of controversy. This immersive account of Augustine's life helps readers understand the world he came from and the enormous contribution he made to the church, both of his day and of the future. Francis of Assisi and His World Francis of Assisi is one of the world's most popular religious figures, and also one of the most misrepresented. In this lively and engaging account of Francis's story - from his hedonistic youth to his emergence as a Christian leader of great charisma and intensity - Mark Galli attempts to strip away the modern gloss in order to discover the real man and the world in which he lived. The saint revealed here is not the romantic free spirit of popular imagination, but a contentious figure who combined a deep mysticism with radical commitment and, above all, sought to glorify God, the creator.

This sourcebook of primary texts illustrates the history of Christianity from Nicaea to St. Augustine and St. Patrick. It covers all major persons and topics in the "golden age" of Greek and Latin patristics. This standard collection, still unsurpassed, is now available to a wider North American audience.

This cultural and institutional history explores the careers of men who served in Rome's Office of Ceremonies during the papal court's growth period (c.1466-1528), in order to understand how the smallest papal college stands as a model of early modern curial advancement. The experiences and textual contributions of three ceremonialists, Agostino Patrizi, Johann Burchard, and Paris de' Grassi, show diverse strategies and origins, but similar concerns and achievements. In a period of heightened competition and increasing pressure for regularization and reform, the Office's professionalization and their combined office-holding, networks, and textual production, reveal how early modern curialists got ahead. This study shows the complexity of successful advancement strategies that were cultivated over decades and stretched far beyond papal support.

This volume focuses on the migration and acculturation of images in Jewish culture and how that reflects intercultural exchange. Gender aspects of Jewish art are also highlighted, as is the role of images in interreligious encounters. Other topics covered include the history, codicology, and iconography of a Haggadah produced in the late fifteenth century.

In his recent book How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher From Galilee historian Bart Ehrman explores a claim that resides at the heart of the Christian faith--- that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. According to Ehrman, though, this is not what the earliest disciples believed, nor what Jesus claimed about himself. The first response book to this latest challenge to Christianity from Ehrman, How God Became Jesus features the work of five internationally recognized biblical scholars. While subjecting his claims to critical scrutiny, they offer a better, historically informed account of why the Galilean preacher from Nazareth came to be hailed as the Lord Jesus Christ. Namely, they contend, the exalted place of Jesus in belief and worship is clearly evident in the earliest Christian sources, shortly following his death, and was not simply the invention of the church centuries later."